


Trapped

by musesmistress



Series: Happenstance Series [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 04:51:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/682984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesmistress/pseuds/musesmistress





	1. Chapter 1

“I think I’m too old to be going to the fair, John,” Elizabeth laughed as she stepped out of the car.

“Never too old to go to the fair, never too old to get on a rollercoaster, and definitely not too beautiful,” he paused to offer his arm to his date, “to let me win you a bear at one of the stalls.”

Elizabeth chuckled at him as she felt the blush creep up her face from being called beautiful. She knew he had said it before, on their last date actually, but still, there were a lot more people here to listen to it. She accepted his arm, hooking her hand onto his and letting him lead the way to the entrance.

“Today, Elizabeth, we’ll be riding the rollercoaster, at least once,” he said looking around him.

“Once is definitely enough,” she mumbled.

“Winning toys, ridding the merry-go-round, the Ferris wheel, eating all sorts of horrible fattening foods, like corn dogs and cotton candy.’

“I’ll have to pass on the corn dog, but the cotton candy is a must,” she said with a smile as John guided her towards one of the rides on the left. 

She couldn’t believe herself right now, she was on her second date with John, but she felt as though it was their twentieth. At the end of their last date, John surprised her with a bouquet of flowers she didn’t even see him collect, before she disappeared into her cab to go home, she had dug one of her business cards from her bag simply so he could have her cell number.

They had talked several times over the phone between that date, two weeks ago, and their current one. She had learned a lot about him, that he was a military man; air force. He could fly three different kinds of plane and was learning a few extras at the moment, one of which he had a final test for in two days time. 

His favourite colour, green, preferred food, Italian, and how he had met and grown up with Colin. She silently thanked Colin again, not only for bringing John to her party three weeks ago, but for tonight. He was currently sitting through dinner with her mother simply to distract her from where Elizabeth was going tonight.

She had quickly discovered that John Sheppard liked to keep his personal information, personal. That through their few calls over the last two weeks, he had learned probably everything there was to know about her, but had shared very little about himself. She’d had to pry the information from him by teasing and flirting, which she found easy to do with him.

Elizabeth realised that the first ride John had stopped at, was the merry-go-round, and she let out a chuckle as she took in the little kids that stood in front of them. They were odd in the group, small children with a parent or older sibling and then two grown adults waiting for their turn.

“What?” John asked smiling as he watched her cover her face in a slightly embarrassed gesture. He reached out and pried her hands away from her flushed skin and tilted her chin up to look at him. “You don’t like merry-go-rounds?”

“You really want to go on this ride?” she asked him, indicating the group of eight-year-olds up ahead, one parent was standing at the side of the queue.

“Yep,” he grinned childishly at her. “I know where we’re sitting too,” he added taking her hand in his and wrapping it back around his arm. Up ahead, Elizabeth watched the last of the children climb from the ride and the owner open the gate to let the new set on.

“You’re just a big kid, aren’t you?”

“If I am, then I’m a lucky one,” he said as he moved with her towards the ride, “I have the prettiest guardian,” he told her as they took the steps up to the second level of the ride.

John moved her around one side and paused at a carriage; he opened the little door and offered his hand to Elizabeth to help her inside. Once they had settled in the carriage, John wrapped one arm around her shoulder and watched as two small girls climbed on the horses ahead, horses that were attached to the carriage as if they were pulling it along.

“Ladies,” John called to the girls and waited for them to look at him, “take us somewhere pretty for the beautiful lady,” the girls giggled to each other and turned back to face away from them.

John agreed to deal with the rollercoaster next, to ‘get it out of the way’ as Elizabeth was far from comfortable with the idea of going on a corkscrew style coaster. She clung to him the whole way around, keeping her eyes closed unless he convinced her to open them. She left it shaking slightly and John found a place for them to sit as she calmed down, buzzing for the thrill. She was muttering at top speed about how she wanted to go again, but didn’t think she could. The sensation was new to her and amusing to John.

John brought cotton candy for Elizabeth and a corn dog for himself before they took to several other rides scattered through the complex, as the evening moved on they found the crowd thinning and found themselves surrounded by other couples and the straggling teenagers.

“Ferris wheel last,” he said. Elizabeth had suggested it for their next ride, but John had other ideas, he knew it was late and soon he’d have to take Elizabeth home, but he didn’t want to. He felt the small ache in his heart at the thought, but he wasn’t done yet, he wanted to show her that he wasn’t just dating her because she was beautiful, he wanted to show her there were feelings involved.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, and received a raised eyebrow, “will you let me guide you onto another ride, eyes closed?”

In reply, Elizabeth took his arm and closed her eyes. John smiled at the gesture, and began to lead Elizabeth through the other couples to a ride on the far side, he paid the confused looking attendant and helped Elizabeth into one of the red boats that resting onto of a water track before climbing in with her.

“Don’t open your eyes yet,” he told her as the boat jerked quickly and they moved off slowly towards the dark tunnels ahead.

“John, where are we?”

“You’re safe,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to pull her closer. His other hand resting on top of her hand that sat on her thigh.

“OK, you can look now,” he said as they entered the tunnel, they passed through a purple velvet cover and into an open tunnel with gently playing music. the dark walls lit by red glowing hearts that were scattered around.

Her breath caught as she realised that she was in the Tunnel of Love, beside her, John shifted a little closer, but didn’t move to kiss her or touch her anymore than he already was. The uncomfortable feeling that had rushed over her, faded as she realised John had no intention of being inappropriate, he merely wanted to sit through the ride with her at his side.

Relaxing, Elizabeth moved into him, showing him that she was comfortable, by moving her hand from under his, letting his rest on her thigh, and moving her own to rest on his.

The ride moved on in silence, the simple touches between them never moving, never becoming uncomfortable. Elizabeth’s head rested on his shoulder and she closed her eyes to enjoy his company more than the ride itself or even anything else they’d done that night.

They moved from the tunnel and left the ride still in silence, hands held as they moved towards the Ferris wheel and joined the small queue. As they waited Elizabeth relaxed against him, letting him feel the full extent of her body against his.

They were both having trouble understanding this, the comfortable feeling they had with each other on only their second date. John knew instantly that they would be together for a long time, especially when he inadvertently slipped his hands around her waist to rest on her stomach and she didn’t protest or even shift against him.

John paid extra to get a carriage alone on the wheel, feeling the need to just share this with her and not have anyone else there to spoil the moment or listen to anything he may say to her.

“I don’t want to home,” Elizabeth said quietly as they reached the top of the large wheel. She snuggled in closer to him, breathing him in before she continued. “I want to stay on here forever, just you and me.”

John pulled her closer, leaning his cheek against the top of her hair and getting lost in the sweet smell of fruit that had obviously once been her shampoo. He didn’t speak; he was struggling against a wave of emotions he couldn’t understand. 

He’d met this woman three times now, been stood up once, and talked over the phone several times, and now here he was, arms wrapped around her at the top of a Ferris wheel, slowly gliding their way down the other side, and he knew when this ride ended they would leave, he’d drive her back to her apartment building and they’d separate with a simple goodnight.

He didn’t want to rush things, push her to let him into her apartment, convince her to let him touch her, make love to her. He would have been content to just lie in the bed with her tonight, as they were now, arm in arm and never having to separate.

He closed his eyes as he realised just how soppy that sounded, even in his head. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that it felt wrong to go back to his lonely home and leave her in a similar situation across the other side of town.

“Elizabeth,” he said but didn’t know what to say after that, he couldn’t very well tell her he wanted to be with her forever, it would sound stupid, he knew it would.

They were interrupted by the attendant and John was hit with the sudden realisation that they had reached the bottom and the end of their ride. He nudged Elizabeth and helped her out of the carriage.

They walked hand in hand back to the car, Elizabeth let out a chuckle when she saw it. The giant bear he had won for her at a shooting range occupied the driver seat and looked ready to drive away.

“I thought I put him in the back seat,” John joked and Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the comment.

All the way home, an uncomfortable silence settled over them. He could hear Elizabeth shifting, fiddling with her jacket, she was nervous about the end of this date, he could feel it. Perhaps he had been too forward with her, became too relaxed by allowing them to become so close physically.

She was looking out the passenger window when he pulled up in front of her building. He turned off the engine and sat quietly, wondering if he should speak first, but finding it hard to come up with anything appropriate, anything that was short of ‘I think I’m falling in love with you.’

“Thank you,” Elizabeth spoke eventually. “I had a great time,” she finally turned to look at him. She wanted to do so many things, touch him, kiss him, invite him up for _‘coffee’_ , she looked down embarrassing herself at the thought before she continued. “I hope we can do this again, soon,” she said the last word slightly disconnected from the rest. In order to stop herself from reaching out to him, she got out of the car and grabbed the bear from the back seat.

“I’ll call you,” John offered as she stopped by his window and smiled at him, she didn’t want to go, but she knew she had to.

“Bye,” she said simply and turned to vanish into the building.

As the door closed behind her, John reacted, jumping out of the car and running in after her.

“Elizabeth,” he called and she turned short of one of the open elevators. He closed the distance between them and held her gaze, he was inches from her face, inches from her lips, he wanted to, but wondered if he’d get another date if he did it.

She reached up, just slightly to adjust to their small difference in height and kissed him gently; the barest of brushes of her lips against his. She pulled back, watching his face for a reaction, perhaps she’d been wrong about what he had wanted, perhaps he hadn’t come back to kiss her goodnight.

Before she continued to consider this, John moved forward, closed the gap between them and kissed her. A passionate, lingering kiss that made her heart feel as though it was ready to jump from her chest and dance across the lobby.

“Elizabeth,” the kiss broke and Elizabeth turned to look at the man who had spoken.

“Simon.”


	2. Chapter 2

Elizabeth sat in silence, her jacket lying on the back of her chair. The bear she had been carrying from John's car to her apartment was sat mockingly on the sofa. She watched him pace across her sitting room, his loafers disappearing from view behind the coffee table and reappearing at the end before he turned.

No one had spoken in the last ten minutes, and Elizabeth was beginning to regret telling John to go home; perhaps she should have accepted his offer to stay with her. But she knew that his presence would only serve to annoy Simon, not that this was a bad idea at the moment.

Downstairs she had been kissing John when Simon stepped off an elevator, silence had followed after they had parted and Simon has suggested that they needed to talk. John had offered to stay, but she had told him no, told him to go home and that she'd call him. She had resisted the urge to kiss him goodbye and turned to follow Simon into the elevator and up to her room, where she now sat.

“How long have you been seeing... him?” he spat at her, and she wondered if he had held back from calling John a name.

“A couple of weeks,” this was all she said, she refrained from adding where and when she had met him.

“How many dates have you had, Elizabeth? How many times have you kissed him? How far have you taken it?”

Elizabeth didn't answer, the anger in his voice scared her slightly; he had once before been angry to the point where he had struck her across the face. But this wasn't why she said nothing, the fact was, it was none of his business.

All night, when she and John had lapsed into silence, resting against each other on rides, she had gone over how to break it off with Simon; when, where and how. She couldn't deny either that, it had started to run through her mind when John had guided her, eyes closed to the tunnel of love.

“Answer me,” he bellowed moving in close to her face, but Elizabeth simply sat back on the chair, her lips sealed and her eyes fixed on him. “You...” Simon struggled to find the right word and she knew names were floating across his mind, horrible names such as slut or bitch. He needed to vent and she could see him struggling against it.

“How could you?” he asked eventually winning the battle to call her names. Elizabeth continued to watch him, usually calm, he harboured an anger he usually managed to hide until something would make him snap.

Last time he'd been this angry, she had gone on a negotiation for seven days and not called him to tell him about it. She had been preoccupied, working hard to learn what she could about the people she was meeting, it had slipped her mind. He'd blown the gasket when she had finally told him, he was the last thing on her mind at the time and he'd reached out to slap her.

He had of course apologised moments later, and retrieved a cold cloth from the bathroom to ease the sting. They had talked that day about how her job, how when it came suddenly like that it was more important to her than anything. That if she failed, she had no fall back skills she could use. He had detested this point, but she didn't believe it.

“It wasn't intentional,” she said calmly, he pushed back away from her and resumed his pacing. She didn't really know what to say, she needed him to calm down before she could tell him anything that would actually sink in.

“Did you sleep with him, Elizabeth?”

She wanted to say ‘I was just getting to that’, but she refrained from it. Feeding his anger wouldn't do her any good. Instead she shook her head.

He continued pacing; pausing once to glare at the stuffed bear on her sofa, he knew John had won it for her, knew it was big enough that no matter when in her apartment she set it she would see it and be reminded of him.

He paced a few more times before seizing the furry animal and throwing it with all his might across the room to vanish into her bedroom. She didn't jump or flinch, she simply watched his outburst, she wasn't afraid of him, wasn't even shocked when he turned abruptly back to her. She quirked an eyebrow at him and waited for the inevitable question.

“Do you love him?” his voice seethed with hate and disgust at the though of her loving someone else.

 _‘Yes,’_ ran through her head, but she mentally shook it away. She'd only known him for three weeks, been on two dates; still hated herself for the outcome of her original first date that she had missed. Thanks to a joint effort from her mother and Simon and eventually her political knowledge.

“I've only been on two dates.”

“Do you love me?” this was the question she had been expecting. Answering the question regarding John was simple, he could ignore that she hadn't said yes or no to him because of the few times they had been out, but she had to give a simple answer to him.

If she said yes, he would expect her to stop seeing John and that was the last thing she wanted to do. But if she said no, he would become unpredictable, and it weighed on her mind that she had locked the door when she had come in.

“Elizabeth,” he said sounding calm, and she looked up at him, his features relaxed as he watched her, “do you love me?”

She wanted to say yes, remembering how he had made her feel when she first met him. Remembering how he had waited for her when she had refused to kiss him, let alone sleep with him. She wasn't the kind of woman who would give in to her urges too easily and climb into bed with just anyone. But she couldn't, remembering the feelings for him, only made her feelings for John stronger; they had outweighed Simon from the moment she met him.

“I'm sorry, Simon,” she said shaking her head to indicate ‘no’.

“How could you do this to me? After all I've done for you, all I've been through for you,” Simon sounded calm, but his features betrayed him.

“It wasn't intentional.”

“You've said that already,” he snapped thumping his fist down on a small table between her bedroom and bathroom.

“And it's the truth, Simon,” she told him moving to stand near him. “I don't plan things like this, you can't, they just happen.”

“Is he better than me?” Simon asked and she knew he meant to add ‘in bed’.

“I haven't slept with him,” she said calmly.

“I don't believe you,” he said, turning to glare at her.

“I have only been on two dates, Simon. I kissed him for the first time today.”

“Lying bitch,” Simon shouted at her.

“I haven't slept with him,” she practically screamed back and froze in shock as Simon reached out and struck her. Her cheek stung with the force and she could feel the burning begin as tears began to sting at her eyes.

She held his gaze for a moment before breathing a sigh of relief as he turned away. Moving to the door he paused before unlocking it and pulling it open.

“I'm sorry, Elizabeth.”

He was gone, the door slamming behind him making her wince. She let the tears fall. Not because she had lost him, not because of the pain in her cheek, but because of all the ways this break up could have been worse.

Shuddering breaths were drawn as she composed herself and moved in to the bathroom to retrieve a wash cloth and run it under the cold tap before applying it to the red mark she could see in her mirror.

“One down,” she told herself, “one to go.”

She knew Simon would want to spite her, and to do so, he would call her mother. Tell her he'd seen her daughter with another man, kissing another man, he would fail to add that he'd talked to her, would leave out that he'd hit her again, but he'd call her.

Tomorrow morning, she could expect a very unhappy visit from a very displeased mother. She picked up the phone as she passed the table between bathroom and bedroom and moved to lie on the bed as she dialled John's number.


	3. Chapter 3

“Nothing, nothing, nothing,” Elizabeth muttered the word over and over to each TV station she paused on to find some way of pre-occupying her mind. It was ten in the morning and she had yet to hear from her mother. She had considered going out, shopping through the morning, paying a friend or two a visit in the afternoon, purposely leaving her phone behind.

That wouldn't work though. All she'd end up doing is delaying the inevitable. Her only remaining parent would catch up with her eventually.

Switching off the television, Elizabeth settled back in the chair and gazed across the sitting room and into her bedroom, at the far end of the room sat the large brown bear that John had won for her last night. He'd spent over half an hour at that shooting range working up enough tokens so he could get the largest stuffed animal on the stall.

She couldn't help smiling at the bear; it was a constant reminder of her evening with John. The way he'd smiled at her in the line of the merry-go-round, teased the two girls who had climbed onto the horses ahead of them. A memory of the whole night, everything up to the last two rides.

The silent beauty of the tunnel of love, the feeling of him close to her, the way her heart seemed to beat faster as she let him rest his hand on her thigh and was silently thankful that he didn't push his luck by moving it. Then the wonderful slow and relaxing ride on the Ferris wheel, where, at the top as she gazed out over the horizon taking in the beautiful lights of the city, she realised just what John found so appealing.

But nothing that night had compared to the glorious feeling of their first kiss. The adrenaline rush was blissful, the feel of his lips against hers. He tasted wonderful, it had been a hardship to pull away and she instantly regretted it when she heard Simon say her name. The moment ruined.

She jumped at the sudden, harsh knock on her door and climbed quickly to her feet. The knock came again as she reached it and she paused for just a moment to remind herself that she loved John and didn't care what her mother thought.

“Mom,” she greeted with a large welcoming smile plastered on her face.

“Don't give me that look, Elizabeth,” Margaret snapped and walked into the room. “Do you have any idea what kind of morning I've had?”

Elizabeth didn't answer, mostly because all she had on her mind at the moment were sarcastic comments that wouldn't have gone down well. But also because her mother never had expected a response to that statement, she would pace halfway across the room before she continued.

“My housekeeper quit, and then I received a phone call from Simon,” she turned from the other side of the sitting room to look at her daughter, “any idea what he had to say?”

“Probably that he and I are no longer together,” Elizabeth offered.

“Yes; and the reason for this?”

“That he saw me kiss another man.”

“Don't take that tone with me,” Margaret spat, raising her finger to point at Elizabeth. “Did you set up last night? Did you send Colin to take me to dinner so I wouldn't know what you were up to?”

“Mom...”

“Do you really think that I don't know what you do behind my back, Elizabeth?”

“I'm not a child anymore,” Elizabeth snapped, her own mother was treating her like a child. A disobedient teenager, who had snuck out in the middle of the night to go to a forbidden rock concert.

“No, you're not, so tell me, why exactly do you continue to act like one?” 

“Maybe because you treat me like one,” Elizabeth argued back, she'd had this conversation before. “You force me into your parties; attempt to set me up with a man _you_ think is right for me. You have no care for what I want to do, or who I love.”

“You obviously don't know...”

“I know exactly what I want,” she snapped. “I don't want a man who will come home, expecting me to have dinner on the table, a man who could give me everything. If that's what you think I want then you don't know me.'

Her mum stood speechless, her own upbringing was to find a man who could provide for her; give her what she needed while she stayed at home with the baby.

“I don't want that, I want to be able to earn my own things. I want to work for the best things in my life, and I want to marry the man I love, not someone who suits me and can give me more than I want.”

“A military man?” Margaret said. “You've spent your adult life fighting against the need for weapons and you're now dating a military man?”

“John is an Air Force pilot, not a marine.”

“So instead of firing a gun, he drops bombs? That makes all the difference.”

“He's not a trigger happy man,” Elizabeth snapped. “He knows what I do. He doesn't believe fighting is the only way, just that sometimes it's required.”

“He's like all other military minded men. He'll tell you just what you want to hear in order to get you into his bed.”

Elizabeth scoffed at her, watching as the anger built in her mother's features.

“How would you know, you only dated one other man before nana set you up with dad. I will not be a conditioned wife, I am an independent woman.”

“You are my daughter and I will not have you seeing some scruffy, gun happy, idiot. You will stop seeing this man right now young lady.”

“No, I wont,” Elizabeth remained calm even though her mum had raised her voice at her, she couldn't lose this battle. “I love him, and I will see him again, you can't stop me.”

“Don't talk back to me,” Margaret said through gritted teeth.

“I will not stop seeing the man I love.”

“If you carry on, I will withhold your father's trust fund.”

Elizabeth froze, would her mother really do something like that, simply to get her own way with who Elizabeth married. For years now she had managed to stave off her mother's forced hand, if she hadn't she would have been married eight years ago. The determined look on her face told Elizabeth she really would do it. Come her thirty-fifth birthday, or marriage, which ever came first, Elizabeth would not receive the fund. 

She had always considered that it would be put to good use, if married first, Elizabeth would have used the large fund to buy a house for her and her husband, to decorate and furnish it, then place the remaining in a trust fund for her first child.

“You wouldn't,” she challenged.

“We'll see,” Margaret replied and moved to the door.

“Mom,” Elizabeth closed her eyes, considering for a moment that she could agree to stop seeing John; just agree to it, not actually do it. Would she be able to hide it from her? Hide it from everyone? “Okay,” she said with a dry voice.

“Okay?” Margaret questioned, wanting to hear the whole sentence out of her only child.

“I'll stop seeing John,” she choked out and felt the tear of the agreement slip down her face. She knew she wasn't going to actually stop, but still, it hurt to say it, to agree to it; to lie to her mother.

“Thank you,” Margaret said with a smile and moved to the door. “I only want what's best for you, Elizabeth. This man isn't what you need.”

After her mum had left, Elizabeth stood for a few moments more, fighting back the tears, how was she going to explain to John that she'd told her mother she wouldn't see him again?


	4. Chapter 4

The cabin was quiet, except for the lightly playing violin concerto that Elizabeth had placed in the CD player. The crackling of the fire was blissful and the heat warmed the couple through and pushed away memories of moments ago being stuck outside in the snow as they moved from car to house.

The bungalow cabin belonged to Colin Dunlop, a close friend of John Sheppard and acquaintance of Elizabeth Weir. But lately, the use of it has been solely given to the lovers as a hide away from the prying eyes of Margaret Weir and Simon Wallis.

A blanket had been set out on the floor in front of the roaring fire, a bottle of fine red wine sat unopened to the side with two slender flutes.

In the adjoining open room, John and Elizabeth were settling at the dinner table, their meal spread out so they could help themselves and a light conversation passing between them. This was the first time in almost seven weeks that they had been able to spend more than an hour together.

They settled together at the table, as comfortable with the other's presence as they had been since their second date, and began to slip into what would, by anyone watching them, have been considered a married couple's routine.

They were far from married; in fact, things for them had gone from bad to worse. Elizabeth had spent two days trying to explain to John why they couldn't be seen together in public, she had tried to make him understand why her father's trust fund was so important to her, despite the fact that she didn't need the money. She had always been secure in the knowledge that it was there in case, and there for her to do something useful with.

It had been rocky at that point, their relationship faltered for the briefest of periods as she had tried to impress on him that it was only for two years, then her mother would have no way of stopping them from doing anything they wanted.

It had been one night in his apartment that Elizabeth had broken down, while trying to talk him around that things had changed completely between them. Tears had run down her face as she sobbed about loving her father and wanting him to be proud of what she did with the money, that she didn't want to end their relationship. She enjoyed his company, looked forward to each little surprise he had given her and was even happy that she knew nothing of his past or his family.

He couldn't bear to see her cry, they'd kissed once by this point and it had made his heart melt. But to see her broken from fear of losing him was something new. He had pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head until the sobbing had abated, and as he held her out so he could look at her he had realised one solid truth from looking into her beautiful green eyes.

He was in love with her.

Her family screamed rich, snobbish and proud, but Elizabeth herself had surprised him by being neither of these things. She was independent, confident and knew what good use of money and power was. She didn't look down at him, nor did she throw her money at him to make him love her, she was much more stable than anyone he'd ever met, the complete opposite to her mother.

As they enjoyed their jointly made dinner, John's brain went back to the first conversation they had had after that first kiss. It had been ruined, they had parted because Elizabeth's current, and uninvited boyfriend had caught them, the look of anger on his face was piercingly set on Elizabeth and he had almost begged her to let him stay.

He had gone home as she had requested and found it impossible to do anything but hope she'd call him when the man had left.

It was almost an hour later that she called, and he could hear the pain in her voice as she had tried to convince him that she was fine, but eventually she had told him that Simon had hit her. He had waited a few days before he'd arrived unexpectedly at her apartment door hoping to whatever God would listen that her mother wasn't inside with her at that moment.

The first thing his eyes had seen when she opened the door, was the red mark on her left cheek left from Simon's hand across her face. Anger seethed through him and he momentarily wanted to find the man and fire as many bullets as he could into his chest. But he was looking at Elizabeth, sweet, beautiful, confident Elizabeth Weir, and he couldn't help but push all gun related thoughts from his head.

Within moments of stepping into the room, John had captured her face and kissed the pained cheek in an attempt to remove the memory of what had caused it. It hadn't taken long for that simple gesture to turn into their second kiss, and John took great pleasure in exploring her lips before his tongue was welcomed to explore further.

His body reacted now every time he saw her, arousal was guaranteed as the thought of what it was like to kiss her so passionately and receive similar vigour in return. The thought of how her breasts felt pressed against his chest and the feel of her hips in his hands. He wanted very much to learn more than just her lips and mouth; he wanted to slowly peel away the layers of clothing that she donned each morning and explore the contours of her body.

But he waited.

It hadn't taken him long to learn that Elizabeth was not someone to rush in, that she would wait until she was sure he was not just after her for her money or body. It was this that always made him wonder why her mother was so insistent that she marry, Elizabeth wasn't poor and she didn't come from a poor family. She had grown up being given whatever she asked for, whatever she wanted; there was no lack of funds in her heritage. Yet her only remaining parent was sure that she needed a rich man to provide for her.

John was the first to admit that he had nothing he could give her in that sense. He'd gone so far as to feel trapped shortly after she told him of the arrangement with her mother. He'd been smart though, talked to her about it, and found out that she didn't care, that all her life she'd wanted nothing more than a man to love her as much as her father had. She had told him that she could be happy living on the streets fighting food off of strangers, all her possessions pulled from rubbish bins, just so long as her company was her lover.

He had teased her about being a hopeless romantic, offered with a sly grin to find her a tunnel of love that she could ride all day and all night with any man she chose. The teasing had been pushed back in his face when she had said she chose him.

He didn't expect that he would be able to romance Elizabeth into letting him get to know her body tonight. He could feed her bottles of wine until she was unconscious, but he would never be able to bring himself to so much as undo the lowest button on her blouse and kiss her stomach. He wanted every minute of that moment to be willingly offered.

 _‘Date number... something,’_ John thought as he took Elizabeth's hand and led her to the sitting room and the blanket on the floor. He had lost count of the amount of times Colin had called them to give them the heads up that something was going to happen or someone was coming their way. It was number four that they'd be able to start and finish in more than three hours, but eleven for all the times they had tried.

Settled on the blanket, John reached for the wine bottle and popped it open while Elizabeth retrieved the glasses. They poured their drinks and relaxed back, John leaning against the side of the sofa behind him, and Elizabeth sat between his legs with her back against his chest.

In years to come, John hoped this would never become old between them, the quiet evening sitting in front of the fire of their home, that Elizabeth would buy and furnish from her dad's trust money, and they could just bask in the company and comfortable silence.

His fingers entwined with hers and she pulled his hand close to her body, resting one between her stomach and her hip as she rested her head back on his shoulder. They had tried this one before, it had been interrupted by Colin calling to warn them about Elizabeth's mother, somehow she'd found out that she was on a date, and had called him to find out with whom.

Their silence stretched from seconds, to minutes to an hour and as they dozed comfortably on the blanket, not really falling asleep, not really wide awake; John began to wonder about where this relationship was going.

“John,” Elizabeth said the sigh on her lips escaping with her relaxed words, “I have a confession.”

“Hmm,” he was too lucid to start guessing at what she was going to say. Lazily he considered that she was going to tell him she had gone back to Simon, but the thought almost made him want to laugh.

She didn't say anything and John snapped back to reality and shifted so he could reach up to turn her to look at him.

“What's wrong, Elizabeth?”

She looked away from him and he could see the embarrassment flush across her features in the fire light. He waited, watching as she battled silently with what she wanted to say and how she would word it. He didn't pry, letting her become comfortable in her own time.

After a few minutes she turned back to look at him, their eyes locking for a while before she leaned in and kissed him. Her hand idly placed her empty wine glass on the floor and she shifting her body to a more comfortable angle. When she broke the kiss, she held his gaze for a moment before allowing her eyes to drift shut as he ran his hands up her hips to her back.

She leaned in again, not to kiss him this time, but to rest her head against his, keeping her eyes shut for a moment she took his hands and locked her fingers with his, resting them both on his own thighs before she looked at him.

“I think,” she paused for a moment. “I don't think actually,” she corrected with a grin, “I know it in fact,” she chuckled at herself for beginning to mumble.

“Elizabeth,” John intervened and separated their hands to capture her face.

“I love you, John.”

Silence fell again, a silence in which Elizabeth watched each emotion pass over John's face before he cleared his throat and tried his best not to sound corny.

“You're too beautiful for me not to love you,” his whispered reply brought a tear to her eye and he reached his thumb up to brush it away only to find his fingers caught by hers as she moved them down to her hips and moved in to seal their love with a kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

“Elizabeth?” Elizabeth looked up at the person who had said her name and smiled fondly at one of her friends as she looked nervously down at her. “Are you alone? I don't want to intrude.”

“It's all right Monica. The person I'm waiting for won't be here for at least ten minutes,” she said and indicated the seat opposite so Monica would sit.

Monica was one of her closest friends, shy and dependable, but easily swayed and somewhat naive in Elizabeth's opinion, but that didn't stop her liking the woman's company. Like Elizabeth's, Monica's parents were just as pushy with her relationships and under their pressure, she had been married four years ago to a man with no sense of humour.

“I haven't seen you lately, everything okay?” Monica asked giving Elizabeth a strange look that made Elizabeth think of how people looked at mental people who walked the streets muttering to themselves.

“Fine, just a little pre-occupied,” Elizabeth answered, her mind wandering to the man who had occupied her thoughts for over five months now. “How are things with Robert?”

“Same old, same old, he's a little bit of a control freak, and a neat freak. He's been trying to hold it back so I don't think he's crazy, but lately...”

“Is he crazy?”

“No, just a little obsessive, ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ he says, and sticks to it,” Monica looked down at her coffee at this point a little shy that she was complaining about the man, she didn't hate him, nor love him, but she respected him enough to let it all pass her by. “I heard you and Simon had a bit of a falling out.”

“Ah ha, an ulterior motive to stopping for a chat,” Elizabeth said looking slightly scandalised, “I knew there was a reason for it.”

“Well,” Monica looked as though she was seriously considering changing the subject for a minute before she finally spoke, “rumour has it that you were caught with another man.”

Silence fell and Elizabeth briefly considered if she wanted to be the talk of the social gossip that was her friends' circle. Their little moments of gleeful conversations rarely reached a parent's ears, and the two or three times Elizabeth could recall it happening; only half the information had made it through.

“He caught me... kissing someone else, yes,” she said picking her words carefully and placing emphasis on the word ‘kissing’.

“Only kissing?” Monica blushed at her own question; she was never one to talk of such things as sex or even getting close with a man. Elizabeth suspected that if she ever had children the woman would blush the whole of her pregnancy.

“Yes, only kissing, we were in the lobby of my building.”

“You're smitten!” Monica said, a grin spreading quickly across her face as she took in the lost look on Elizabeth's face as she remembered the first kiss. “You're a smitten kitten.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't think of anything to say. In some small way Monica was right, smitten would definitely fit into the feelings she had for John.

“Tell me about him, is he like you always dreamed?” the dreamy look Monica gave her made Elizabeth's mind wander back to the first night her friends and her had arranged a sleep over, they had created a tent in the sitting room of one of their houses and talked about their dream man.

Monica had described then the complete opposite of what she was currently married to. Whereas Elizabeth believed her mother was right, that a man should be able to provide for a woman.

“No, I used to think my mother's ways were proper, that I should marry someone who could provide for me,” she sighed. “I don't want that anymore and John isn't that way inclined.”

“Then he must be good looking at least.”

“That's one way of looking at it,” Elizabeth raised her brow at her friend, “’rugged good looks’ doesn't do him justice.”

“I suppose looks aren't everything,” Monica said, glancing to her right at a couple that looked completely odd together, he resembled someone who looked like a street sleeper and she was beautiful, manicured and sat up straight.

“He's romantic, he listens, and he's playful...” Elizabeth gazed past her friend at the man walking slowly and cautiously towards her. Her eyebrow quirked at him, “very playful,” she corrected, her smug grin slipping back into place.

“Do you love him?” Monica leaned in close to ask this question, love was always a secret between her and her friends, something that should be kept in a lockbox and saved only for the special men they found.

“More than I thought possible,” she said and looked back up as John stopped a few paces from the table.

Monica caught this action and turned to look behind her, her eyes fixing on the scruffy hair, the cheeky grin and the stubble lined face. Her jaw dropped, she turned back to Elizabeth with the shocked look firmly in place.

“Oh, wow!”

“Air Force pilot,” Elizabeth confessed, “and forbidden fruit,” she added giving Monica a look that only too clearly said her mother didn't approve.

“Your mom's forbid it?”

Elizabeth simply shook her head, glancing back at John she tilted her head as he motioned a drink and she nodded in acceptance.

“I'm getting to the point where I don't care,” she admitted, “but she's threatened to hold back the trust fund, and I really don't want that to happen. I told her,” Elizabeth said leaning in close and dropping her voice to a whisper, “that I'd stop seeing him.”

“That's why you're out here?”

It was true this part of town was not somewhere Elizabeth usually stopped for lunch. The cafe she sat outside of was somewhat lower class for her family, but it didn't really bother her all that much. Monica on the other hand loved this area; she liked giving a few dollars to the poor people and making life just that much easier for them. She often wandered through the shops here, stopped at the cafes and walked home passing as many hot spots for the homeless as she could.

“Some forbidden fruits are just too tempting,” Elizabeth said and accepted her fresh coffee from John.

Monica froze as he approached the table and stood abruptly, she quickly gathered the bags she had dropped by her side when she sat down and smiled at Elizabeth.

“Maybe I better leave you to... erm,” her words lost, she wanted to say temptation. Elizabeth could see the word practically written across her face.

“I'll talk to you later Monica,” Elizabeth smiled knowingly at her friend.

Monica shyly nodded to them both and hurried away.

“She seemed...”

“Shy,” Elizabeth offered and leaned in to give him a welcoming kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

John pulled Elizabeth closer, his arm wrapped around her shoulders as she rested against him watching the movie, tonight they sat in her apartment, snuggled close and watching a movie they both wanted to see.

The smell of fruit from Elizabeth’s hair was intoxicating him, he had worked out that strawberry was her favourite fruit, he could smell it in her hair, and in her bedroom, when he’d peeked in to look for the bear he’d won her at the carnival that had been their second date.

This was the first time he’d actually been in Elizabeth’s apartment, he’d knocked at the door and looked in, but those times had been when he was picking her up to take her out. They didn’t go out much lately, circumstances with her mother made it hard for them to go anywhere or even spend large amounts of time together.

Elizabeth had invited him tonight and whereas he hoped against hope he’d get lucky and finally, after five months of dating, get to at least lay with her in bed, he didn’t really think it would happen.

He rested his head against hers as the movie finished and breathed in the wonderful scent that he would never be able to separate from her. Come summer, John was sure he’d buy her strawberries every day, just to see her smile.

He tightened his grip on her and reached his other hand across to rest on her side, to his surprise, she snuggled closer to him. Reacting purely on instinct, John lowered his head, knocking hers to the side as he attempted to reach the neck that was against his shoulder.

She shifted for him and John found himself with free access to the tender skin on her throat and neck, he kissed at it, testing the waters of what she would allow and found no complaint. He moved again, dipping his lips against the crook of her neck and shoulder blade and heard the soft moan from her lips.

He became suddenly uncomfortable, his pants fitting too tightly as he continued to draw the light noises from her. He became lost in the sound and feel of her skin under his lips and hardly noticed as she pried his fingers from her hip and moved them across her stomach. He only realised she had done this when she moved to sit herself in his lap and he finally made his arms work in order to help her. As soon as he had done this however, he regretted it; she pulled back from him slightly and captured his gaze.

“I hope that’s not a gun in your pocket, Captain.”

John couldn’t help but smirk at the use of his rank instead of his name, Elizabeth was coy like that, twisting the situation into something fun, and in this case frivolous.

“Definitely not,” John replied returning her look with a sly one of his own.

John shifted his hips against her and watched the pleasured look flash across Elizabeth’s face before she buried it against his neck with a groan. 

Testing again to see how far he could go, John slipped the hand from her stomach across to her hip and ran his fingers up her back under the t-shirt she was wearing. She groaned again, and John was sure he could feel every vibration of it tingling his skin, but it was replaced with a very wonderful sensation as Elizabeth’s lips locked onto his collar bone.

He wanted more contact, but was still wary of where exactly this moment was going, so he freed his other hand from between them and pulled her away.

“Elizabeth?” he questioned literally seizing her gaze to see what she wanted. Desire, lust and love, he couldn’t want anything more from her, at least he thought he couldn’t until a reply to his question came in the form of a very passionate kiss that she started and John built on.

That uncomfortable feeling had returned as he felt his need grow exponentially, he more than wanted her this way, more than needed to have this, he desired it more than anything else he’d desired in his life.

Quickly, he tucked one arm under her knees and hoisted her off his lap; she seemed not to care as she moved from kissing him to attacking his neck with her lips and tongue. He moved unsteadily to the bedroom, lost every so often in the sensation she caused him, and as carefully as possible, laid her down.

He stretched out beside her, one hand propping his head up so he could watch her as she looked at him, his other running lazy circles over her stomach and ever so slowly shifting her shirt up until his fingers could trace the contours of her belly.

She bit at her lower lip as his hand found her skin and John watched with rapt attention as her eyes slid closed and every single sensation she was feeling flickered across her skin, the red heat of a blush tinting her skin.

He leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips over hers as he slowly shifted his circling hand higher up her abdomen and towards a new goal.

 _‘One goal at a time,’_ he told himself, the kiss had been first, he had managed that months ago, and moved from a brushed kiss to a deep passionate one that they usually shared as a goodbye gesture.

Skin that wasn’t her arm, cheek or hand was next; he’d accomplished his goal moments ago on the sofa, and found he liked the feel of her soft flesh under his fingers and lips.

He considered her stomach as another goal now that his eager fingers were drifting up off her stomach and finding the edges of a very soft and lacy piece of material, a cloth that covered his next goal.

Without realising why, John gasped, warm slender fingers had made their way under his own shirt and were resting on his side, the nails of each digit sliding up towards his shoulder and the material of his top was being dragged up with them. He blinked and realised he had been so lost in touching her, that he hadn’t noticed her eyes had opened and fixed on him.

Elizabeth’s other hand came into play and began to push him up so she could remove the shirt. Pulling it up over his head as he sat up, and dropping it to the floor so she could hastily run her hands over his chest.

A new burst of pleasure shot through him, her fingers were like electric shocks against his skin, each shock wave fluttering down over his stomach and straight to his already painful manhood. All doubt and self conscious thought fled him, he reached out and pulled Elizabeth close, feeling her pressed against him as he ran his fingers up the skin of her back and prying her deep red t-shirt over her head to join his own on the floor.

He pushed her back down onto the bed and took in the sight of her, flushed as she watched him. Her lower lip trapped delicately between her teeth; her red lace bra covered just enough to keep him guessing but still too much; at least in his opinion. He dragged his eyes down over her stomach, watching as it rose and fell with her breathing, she was shy, he realised this information with a sudden unexpected glee, Elizabeth Weir was self conscious about her body.

He reached up with his free hand and ran his index finger lightly down her jaw line, down over her throat letting it travel down the valley between her breasts until he had to skip over the front clasped bra to run teasingly from the bottom of her breasts, over her navel until her jeans stopped him.

Teasingly, John dipped his fingers under the waist band and felt the gasp shudder through her lower stomach. His eyes had been following his own movements until this time when he snapped his eyes back to her face to watch the effect of his actions.

Her attention was raptly on him, watching him slowly enjoy each of his movements. He leaned in again and captured her lips, kissing as he pulled his fingers back from being trapped under her jeans and spread his hand out over her stomach before easing it towards her side so he could pull her onto her side to face him.

“You’re beautiful, Elizabeth,” he breathed, locking her gaze as he pulled from the kiss and turned her body to face him. “I feel like I’ve known you forever, but I’ve never known the feel of your body.”

Elizabeth smiled, he realised it was all she could manage as he felt her shudder against his crawling fingers as they made their way up her spine.

A sudden noise made Elizabeth turn her head towards the door and the beautiful pleasured expression vanished. To John’s horror a look of shock took its place and he turned to find Margret Weir standing in the door of the bedroom staring at them.

“Elizabeth Catherine Weir, what on Earth do you think you’re doing?”

John turned back to Elizabeth as she deflated, defeat flashing across her face as her head dropped to his bared chest, her hand on his side and she puffed out the air of a caught and defeated animal.


	7. Chapter 7

‘How could you lie to me like that?’ Margret’s raised voice could be heard through the whole apartment as she bore down on Elizabeth.

John stood in the kitchen, calm settling over him as he listened to the bellows of the older woman in the bedroom, the door was closed so he couldn’t see the events that were taking place, but he could hear the shouted unpleasantries.

Typical, he thought as he switched the kettle on and began to hunt through the cupboards for cups and coffee making material; it was just typical that they would get caught now. A sudden horrific thought dawned on him and he quirked an eyebrow at himself in stark relief, a few minutes later, and one or both of them would have been completely naked.

As it was they had both been lucky, they had only doffed their t-shirts when they had been interrupted, his unfortunately, was still in the bedroom, he wondered for a moment if he’d ever see it again or if Margret Weir would rip it to shreds or throw it out the window.

‘I can’t believe you gave up your father’s trust like that,’ she continued, ‘he’d be disappointed, Elizabeth,’ Elizabeth obviously replied to this, but John didn’t hear what she said. ‘How dare you!’

‘Why are you insistent that I forever be unhappy?’ Elizabeth screamed, ‘I don’t want to marry for money, I’m not you.’

John heard a sharp noise and then silence, he moved towards the bedroom his mind reeling, he had a feeling Margret had struck Elizabeth, and he didn’t like that one bit. There were two really bad things in this world, in John’s opinion, people who hurt or abused children, and men who hit women. Granted that in this case it wasn’t a man who struck her, but still John felt the protectiveness surge through him.

John paused at the door, reconsidered checking on them and returned to his hunt of Elizabeth’s kitchen. 

~~**~~

A small trickle of blood eased lazily down Elizabeth’s cheek, but she paid no attention to it, she had only ever been backhanded by her mother once before in her life, back when she was seventeen and had refused to wear the horrible grey dress her mother was attempting to force her into for a social gathering.

But she wasn’t seventeen anymore, she was a grown woman and she didn’t deserve to be treated like a teenager anymore. Her eyes fixed on her mother’s, Elizabeth stood up, picked up her t-shirt, which her mother had refused to let her put back on, and pulled it sharply over her head. She continued to watch her mum’s glare as she bent again, picked up John’s shirt and moved towards the door.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Elizabeth turned back, reached up to wipe the blood from her face and just smiled.

‘I’m thirty-three, mom, and I’m tired of these arguments. You’ve hated every boyfriend I’ve had since I was twelve, you’ve gone so far as to scare most of them off, to bribe others to dump me and even find some way of gaining leverage so you can con them out of my life.’

‘I beg your pardon.’

‘I love John Sheppard, I don’t understand why, since daddy died that you’ve insisted more that I marry for money, I don’t understand why you think it’s the only thing that’s right in life and I don’t care what you do from this point to try and hurt me or separate us.’

‘Elizabeth…’

‘I love him,’ she said again, taking a step forward, ‘I love who he is, his smile, his scruffy hair, his six o’clock shadow. I even love him when I can smell gun powder on him after he’s spent the day in training,’ she reached up again to wipe off the blood from the cut her mother’s engagement ring left. ‘I promise you, that anything you do to try and take him away from me, will only turn out badly for you.’

Elizabeth turned, yanked the door open and stepped out into the sitting room of her apartment; she slammed the door behind her and crossed the room to the kitchen.

Before she’d even reached John, she saw him pull a piece of paper towel from the spindle on the side and run it under the tap. She placed his shirt on the countertop as he ran the damp cloth over her cut. She could feel the shock setting in slowly, a chill tingled through her body as she kept his gaze, she knew he didn’t like this situation, she knew he’d give anything to make her and her mother happy at the same time if it were at all possible.

‘Hey,’ he said lightly as she felt the first tear slip down her cheek and sting at the cut, ‘hey, no, don’t do that,’ she hung her head and revelled in the feel of him as he leaned in and kissed her cheek delicately before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.

Out the corner of her eye, Elizabeth saw the bedroom door open as John had started to clean her cut, she had been unable to hold back the tears as she looked at him, the fear suddenly setting in as she realised she had just challenged her mother to try and take him from her.

As John had pulled her into him, she had turned her head away from her mother, the upside of this, was that she didn’t have to see her mum’s reaction to the hug, but the downside was that her cut was now bleeding on John’s bare skin.

She heard her mum move, but didn’t pull away from John to see where she went, she closed her eyes and prayed for the sound of her door opening and closing, but it didn’t come.

‘I hope you’re pleased with yourself,’ Margret said, her harsh tone flooding Elizabeth’s senses like a wave of ice cold water, ‘you won’t receive your father’s trust fund when you turn thirty five, you will never receive it, so long as you’re with him.’

Elizabeth squeezed her eyes closed against John’s chest and prayed for the day to be over already, she heard the foot falls of her mother’s heels across the kitchen out over the carpeted sitting room; she was finally, blissfully leaving.

‘Wait,’ Elizabeth cringed at the sound of John’s voice calling to her mother, ‘you can’t leave like this, do you really want to walk away from your daughter?’ 

‘She’s already walked away from me,’ Margret spat back and before Elizabeth could react, John separated himself from her and moved towards the older woman.

‘You’ll just willingly walk away; push her off because she wants to be with someone she loves instead of someone you approve of?’

‘Don’t dictate to me how I should deal with my child?’

‘There’s your mistake right there.’

‘John, don’t.’

‘She’s not a child,’ John started, ignoring Elizabeth’s plea.

‘John,’ Elizabeth tried again.

‘She’s a beautiful woman, she has the right to make her own choices, deserves the chance to make her own mistakes,’ he ignored the narrowed look Margret gave him, ‘if you’re too stubborn to see that, then maybe you should walk away.’

Elizabeth dropped into the chair she had stopped by, tonight had started so well, a nice dinner, great movie and sex had been so close, she’d finally decided it was time, gave into her body’s needs and from that moment on, it had all gone wrong. Now it was just getting worse.

She heard her apartment door open and slam shut and felt the sudden dull ache spread through her chest, it was over; she’d made her choice, John above her own mother.

She pulled herself carefully out of the chair and padded across the room to her bedroom, opened the door, stepped inside and dropped exhausted onto the bed. She didn’t see or hear John as he stepped into the room behind her, didn’t take in that he had moved to her side and was slowly running his hand up her back in soothing circles.

‘Do you want me to go?’

The tone of voice she heard from him almost broke her heart so she shook her head, as she swallowed back a sob. She felt his hand move, leaving her back and moving to drag her loose curls from the side of her face; he leaned in and kissed her cheek. 

‘Want me to crash on the couch?’

Again she couldn’t find the effort to speak, so she merely shook her head, she didn’t want to be alone, she just wanted to be with him, from now and until nature separated them.

John was moving behind her, pulling something from her bed, it was a moment before she felt John’s hands on her sides. He turned her and pulled her to sit up before reaching for the hem of her shirt and moving it slowly up her body, she didn’t protest, she had no doubt in her mind that he wasn’t going to try anything on her right now.

Slowly, and she knew he was looking as he did so, John undressed her and redressed her for bed, she was surprised that he didn’t actually remove her bra before placing her pyjama top on, instead, he helped ease the article of clothing after she was covered.

She wouldn’t have minded either way, but wondered if seeing her completely topless would have tugged at his self control. She watched his expression as he moved; his concentration purely on the task at hand. When he finished, he looked up to find her eyes still fixed on him so he quickly cleared his throat and stood up.

Elizabeth smiled slightly, and reached out to John’s hands as she moved to her feet, she was slowly breaking from the sudden wave of depression that had taken over moments ago. She kissed him, gently for a moment before she whispered her thanks to him and without giving him any warning she took hold of the waistband of his jeans.

She smiled coyly at him as he sucked in a breath, she had wanted the reaction knowing it would cause him to wrap his hand either around her waist or her wrists, either way, he’d find skin, and it’s this that she sought.

His hands firmly on her waist, Elizabeth undid the single button of his pants and teased the zipper down.

‘Unless you wanna try that again,’ he said and had to clear the lump out of his throat, ‘you might wanna stop.’

‘I don’t think I want to try that again here,’ she confessed, ‘somewhere we’re guaranteed not to get interrupted would be nice,’ she added as she pushed his jeans off his hips.

‘Hmm,’ John mused as he considered her comment, ‘I think I know just the place.’


	8. Chapter 8

‘I have a little bit of bad news,’ John said as Elizabeth handed him her overnight bag so she could lock her apartment door.

‘What’s my mother done now?’

‘Nothing that I know of,’ he replied with a chuckle at her comment. After last week’s “interruption” by her mother, Elizabeth had taken to suspecting her of everything now. ‘I’ve been assigned to the Afghanistan mission,’ he told her, ‘I’ll be gone for a few weeks.’

‘When?’

‘Day after tomorrow,’ she was shocked for a moment, the information slowly sinking in.

‘Then,’ she said and grinned mischievously at him, ‘we’ll have to make the best of tonight and tomorrow.’

She couldn’t help but laugh as John grabbed her hand and began to pull her towards the elevators. This last week had been hell on her, her mother had shut her out completely, hung up when she called and even shut the door in her face when she tried to talk to her. 

The accountant in charge of her trust fund had told her begrudgingly that her mother had frozen the account. She was thankful that John was there when she had made that call, she was sure she would have broken something in her apartment if he hadn’t stopped her.

She was a lot more thankful to him when he had called a few nights back and told her to make sure she wouldn’t get interrupted for tonight and the next day so he could take her somewhere special; he finished the call with “Oh and pack an overnight bag.”

Elizabeth held him close as she moved with him down through the lobby and out to his car, he politely opened the door for her before depositing her bag in the trunk and climbing into the driver’s seat.

‘So, where are you taking me?’ she asked, her excitement level bubbling for the first time in a week.

‘It’s a surprise,’ she eyed him suspiciously as he gave her a grin that told her something devious and equally special had been planned.

She tried to work out where they were heading and became confused when twenty minutes later John turned into an Air Force base, flashed his pass and then moved through the parking lot. The flutter in her stomach grew, she didn’t like this place, never had and worst of all everything that she stood for was turned around here.

‘John,’ she said somewhat nervously, ‘you do realise where you’ve taken me, right?’ 

‘Yes, I know you and any kind of military don’t get along very much,’ he offered pulling into a parking space, ‘we’re only going to be here for ten minutes at the most, I promise.’

She watched him leave the car, but didn’t move herself, for the first time since she’d met John Sheppard, she began doubting their relationship. Her heart thudding in her chest as she considered that perhaps he didn’t know her at all.

The car door on her side opened and John appeared beside her, concern on his face and what she could only place as fear.

‘Elizabeth, I promise no guns,’ he offered, ‘they’re controlled on base, no one walks around with them, they are only in the training rooms.’

‘I… just.’

‘We’re passing through, that’s all, we sign in, walk one corridor out into the hanger yard and then we’re gone.’

‘Hanger yard?’ 

‘Trust me,’ John said offering his hand. Elizabeth forced herself to calm down and reached out for him. She didn’t like this one bit, but if it was as easy as he made it sound, maybe, just maybe she would be all right with it.

He kept his promise, stopping inside the door of the base to sign a form on her behalf, and then took her hand to lead her down the corridor and out the other end. They emerged into a small air field and the smell of petrol filled her nostrils.

‘Sheppard, hanger three,’ someone called to her left and Elizabeth turned to watch a man salute him before he moved away.

‘I have good news to add to my bad,’ John told her as he led her past a few of the hangers, ‘I got promoted.’

‘Oh that’s a shame,’ Elizabeth said attempting to hide the humour in her voice.

‘A shame?’

‘Yeah, I was looking forward to you being the Captain of my bed.’

Elizabeth turned as John stopped walking, his head was hung low and she briefly wondered if she’d said something wrong.

‘I gotta get that image out of my head now.’

She suppressed the laugh as best she could, and pulled her lips back between her teeth when he looked up sharply.

‘Where are you taking me?’ She tried again.

‘I’m definitely not telling you now.’

They moved off again and Elizabeth glanced around as people wandered by them before she was sharply turned and led inside a hanger. Inside there were three small private planes, the closest was white and named in red letters “Wittan”, John moved past this one to the second one, another white plane with golden letters that were peeking through an almost transparent tarp.

‘I had this plane renamed,’ John told her, as he handed their bags over to an approaching technician.

‘From what and to what?’

‘It used to be called “Air Pellet”,’ he said and she watched him indicate to one of them standing beneath the nearest wing, ‘but I thought this was a much prettier name.’

At the right moment, the men by the wing pulled the tarp away to reveal the small golden letters that spelled “Elizabeth”. Her breath hitched at the sight she was presented with, he had named his own air craft after her.

The short trip was the best time Elizabeth had spent in a plane; she spent the whole journey sitting in the co-pilots seat while the co-pilot Lieutenant Edwards sat in the navigator’s seat.

~~**~~

They landed two hours later in Pennsylvania and John almost immediately blindfolded Elizabeth and led her to a hired car, where they were both driven to their location. She asked again where they were going and John just brushed it off, telling her she’d see, eventually.

The car pulled up in front of the Caesars Hotel in the Pocono Mountains and John eased Elizabeth from the back seat and led her inside. As he stepped through the elaborate front door, the manager appeared to his left and silently indicated for John to follow him.

They stepped into an elevator and John knew Elizabeth was trying to guess where they were and how many floors they climbed. Moments later they were being led through a quiet hallway and the man leading them paused and unlocked the door to their room.

‘Where are we?’ Elizabeth asked with a giggle, ‘and why does it smell like strawberries?’ John didn’t reply; he watched her as she strained to hear him. ‘John?’ She let out a small yelp of surprise when he placed his hands on her hips, running slowly up her sides and onto her back. He moved up to her neck and he felt her shiver slightly as his fingers ruffled through her hair to take hold of the blindfold.

He gave her time to adjust to soft light of the room and watched as a small smile broke on her face. He had led her to one of the lavish suites of the hotel, one step removed from the honeymoon suite.

Candles lined the room, a red perfumed smoke rising lazily from each flame, the lingering aroma of Strawberries sweeping blissfully from them.

John stepped into her vision, dropped their bags beside the elegant sofa and turned back to face her.

‘Somewhere special,’ he said, ‘as beautiful as the company, and so private, that the only person who knows we’re here, is Colin’s uncle.’

‘You set this up… for me?’ She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and blinked several times to get rid of them.

‘After the week you’ve had, you deserve this,’ he said and she fixed her eyes on him as he moved towards her, ‘and I love you enough to give you a night of peace.’

He leaned down to kiss her, and she responded by tilting her head up to kiss him back. John wrapped his arms around her waist and slipped small kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder. He moaned lightly as she ran her hands down his chest in search of the hem of his shirt, she found it and pushed her hands up underneath it; their passion spiked and need took over.

He dragged her shirt up and over her head and pitched it across the room as she began to pull on his garments; her hands however, didn’t raise to let him remove her sweater, she was busy trying to undo his pants and he had to pull her hands from them to quickly make work of her sweater and t-shirt.

He released her as he suddenly realised she was wearing the same red lace bra she had worn on their previous attempt at stripping each other, but tonight, he thought, was going to be different. He captured her hands again just as she pushed his jeans down over his hips and she looked up.

‘I don’t want to rush this,’ he said earnestly, ‘I want to know,’ he started moving forward and kissed along her shoulder, ‘every part,’ he kissed down her arm, ‘and every point,’ he moved across her chest, ‘that makes you moan.’

The words along enticed a moan of pleasure from her lips and John looked up at her as her eyes slid closed. He began to move; Elizabeth opened her eyes as he led her to the bed and eased her down onto the soft mattress. He shifted to lie next to her and reached one hand up to run down the side of her cheek.

‘Will you let me love you? Will you let me explore your beautiful skin?’

He wanted to just throw it all out the window and take her now, it was what he would normally do by now, so frustrated by how their last attempt went he didn’t really want to waste time. But he also wanted to take his time and learn her body.

He watched her nod shakily, seemingly unable to speak, he kissed her again; his hands drifting up her sides slowly until he found the material of her bra. 

He pulled back and teased his fingers over the swells of her breasts for just a moment before he unhooked the clasp and eased the material away from her skin. She was beautiful, firm breasts peeked back at him and he couldn’t resist flicking his thumbs over her nipples as he pulled the bra apart.

He leaned in and sucked one of her perked nipples into his mouth and enjoyed the feeling of her arching into him; a buzz started in his head, he was doing this to her, he was causing her this much pleasure.

He moved eagerly to the other breast and repeated his ministration this time she moaned, knowing exactly what was coming. He was leaning over her body by this point and practically pinning her to the bed, he could feel her stomach pressing against him as her breath hitched from his contact.

John pulled back and caught her hands as she moved to grab him, he kissed her wrist feeling her pulse against his lips before moving to lay simple pecks against her stomach as he moved down the bed.

He looked up as Elizabeth shifted and he smiled as her bra flew over her head to drop off the end of the bed.

‘Much better,’ John said as his kissed her navel and then moved back up the bed to kiss her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and shifted to lie on top of her; he tucked his hands up under her shoulders and pulled her bare chest against his own.

He started again, kissing her deeply and lazily before moving down her neck to her shoulder and sucking lightly on her shoulder blade. She moaned easily and he could feel the shockwave of it all the way to his groin.

He moved again, kissing along the front of her neck and down over her chest to the valley between her firm breasts. His hands moved now, pulling back from her shoulders and pinching at her hard and sensitive tips, another groan escaped and John smiled against the top of her stomach as he continued down her body.

He carefully picked his places on her abdomen, kissing softly at each place and listening to the soft intake or release of breath as she stifled each little moan he created in her throat.

John smiled and pushed lower, kissing a simple line along the top of her jeans; as he dragged his fingers down her sides and listened to her hiss and wiggle slightly. When his fingers encountered material, he changed direction and drifted across her stomach to meet in the middle and pop the button on her pants.

He kissed the newly exposed skin before he began easing the zipper down, he eased up off her body slightly and eagerly licked his lips as he tugged the clothing down her hips, over her thighs and past her knees, his finger nails scraping lightly at her flesh as he moved.

Luckily, Elizabeth had kicked off her shoes before this had begun, he had too, wanting to get started and seeing shoes as an item of annoyance.

He lay back on the bed, his head at her hips and looked back up her body, she was looking down at him, watching his expression shyly as he breathed in and allowed his eyes to close, her smell was intoxicating. He glanced at her still hidden treasure and quirked an eyebrow back up at her.

‘Matching panties,’ he said adding a cheeky grin to the look, ‘I like it,’ he said admiring her red lace underwear.

He pulled back again and sat himself on his knees between her legs; he reached out and teased a few small circles at her hips, watching as Elizabeth’s head dropped back to the pillow and her eyes slipped closed. 

He knew she was expecting him to remove the last piece of her clothing, so he avoided it all together. Instead, he ran the tips of his digits down her legs teasing at spots that made her breath catch in her throat; he reached her ankles and wrapped his hand around her left one to raise it slowly so he could kiss at the tender skin on the inside.

Slowly, John began the progress of places kisses along the inside of her long slender limbs until he reached her knees, where he was forced to shift, laying back on his front atop the bed where he continued to move ever upward.

The blissful music of Elizabeth’s pleasure reached his ears more often as he drifted up her inner thighs and let out a shocked gasp as he skipped over the last few inches and placed his lips sharply on her covered pussy.

Her hips twitched as John darted his tongue out to taste her, it was easy to do, her underwear was soaked through; she was obviously enjoying this more than he was.

It didn’t matter though, not to him, the throbbing in his solid erection had peaked when he had dragged in the smell of her arousal shortly after removing her jeans, he had been ignoring it since, but it seemed to have doubled in intensity at her taste.

His hands moved back to her hips, circled a few times and then seized the top of her panties and began slowly easing them down, giving only small glimpses of the remaining body part.

Panties gone, John moved to admiring her again, but her shyness had peaked and John had to wrestle her hands out of the way; he caught a few glimpses of her snatch before he decided there was only one way to make her forget her bashfulness.

He caught her wrists again and pulled them to the side and without hesitation plunged his tongue into her slit and began to draw a line between her entrance and her clit, stopping to flick at the small bundle of nerves once or twice.

It had worked, her hands, still locked in his, were now resting on her hips as he drew little noises from her, her hips rising off the bed to meet his mouth as he changed from tonguing her to devouring her.

‘John,’ she breathed and sucked in a sharp breath as he paused to flick at her clit again, ‘ah God John,’ she let out as he returned to his previous attack; he could feel her orgasm building quickly. He seized her hips to keep her still as she began to writhe under him, and pinned her down as he ran his eyes up her body to watch her expression as she came.

He slowed down as she began to relax and dipped a finger into her tunnel to feel the strength of her abating pleasure, she clenched on his intruding digit and John felt the pressure all the way to his cock.

He was about to start moving back up her body to kiss her, when he heard her huskily say something.

‘Stand up,’ she told him and moved to sit on the bed as he pulled himself to his feet. John quickly stood up and watched as she composed herself enough to attack his pants.

Before he had time to comprehend what she was going to do, Elizabeth had forced his button and zipper open and dug her hand inside to take a tight grip on his member. He groaned and his head dropped back feeling her fingers drag over his hips as she pushed both his jeans and boxer shorts down while maintaining her grip on his length.

John had to grab her shoulders as he felt the warmth of her mouth wrap around his erection, the sensation was pulling his balls tight and her wandering hands didn’t make the situation any easier as she gave him a gentle squeeze.

He pulled back, stepping away, the pain in his twitching cock too extreme, he would come any second now if she carried on like that, there was no denying it; she was great at giving head.

He bent down and pulled a small packet from his pocket before kicking the clothing off, when he looked back at Elizabeth she had stood up and moved towards him, closing the small gap between them.

He watched in amazement as she took the packet from his hand and turned him so his back was to the bed.

‘Oh God,’ he breathed as he hit the mattress; she was going to ride him. He took several calm breaths as Elizabeth teased her tongue up his length before slipping the condom from the packet and rolling it with a strong grip down his shaft.

He watched the fingers she had placed at the base of his cock and felt a small amount of relief wash over him as she squeezed some of the pressure from him. He was thankful only because he was sure he’d come the moment she climbed on.

He concentrated on her as she moved lazily up his body, kissing and licking as she moved, he closed his eyes for a moment as she flicked her tongue at his nipples, but opened them to greet her with a quick kiss before he felt her shift her hips against him.

She pushed back and John groaned and reached for her hips as she began to rock on him, not even inside her yet John could feel the heat of her sex on him and it was once again pushing the pressure levels back up to explosive.

‘Elizabeth,’ he groaned in barely a whisper and she took the hint.

Rising up slightly, John fixed his gaze on her sex as she reached down and positioned him at her entrance. He was determined to watch her as she slipped down onto his length; he was going to keep his head up and his eyes open.

But as soon as she began to push down on him, John’s head hit the bed and he had to squeeze his eyes shut against the onslaught of feelings.

Her body was hot and tight on him and she thrust down hard against his hips before rising almost all the way off and repeating the motion, slow to begin with, hard thrust of the hips against his and drag back up.

He looked up as her hands touched his chest and was enticed by the look on her face as she leaned forward, head hung low. Concentration, pure, absolute concentration, she was close, he could feel it, but she was trying desperately to hold back, drawing out the moment for as long as she could.

‘Let it go, Elizabeth,’ he breathed after a moment and she shook her head, still needing to make it last. John became impatient as his own orgasm begun to stretch across his lower stomach and groin, he needed her to let go before he did, wanting desperately to feel her contracting muscles on his full length.

‘Elizabeth,’ he tried again and she shook her head again. John pivoted, thrusting up into her in an attempt to make her lose control, but it wasn’t working as well as he hoped. She had to shift, pull in a few sharp breathes to help her control, but she still hung on.

Getting desperate now, John moved to the next best idea, and he reached his hands up, moving them from her hips to her breasts. He gave each nipple a pinch before sliding one hand down over her stomach, she faltered at the contact, rocking her hips for a moment before regaining her control, but John carried on downwards.

Reaching his goal at last, John flicked the pad of his thumb against her clit and felt the change in her movements instantly; her long hard thrusts stopped as she pulled him completely inside her and began to rock her hips back and forth on him.

She was clenching down on him, her release so close yet she still held onto it for as long as she could, it wasn’t until John’s other hand dropped to her thigh and he slipped his finger along the crease between her leg and her sex that she let go.

Her muscles clenched tightly on him and John bit his lip as he felt her hips twitch on him, her face twisted in delight as she finally let go and fingers curled on his chest digging sharp nails in just a little.

The pressure on his cock was too much, she was tighter and wetter than any woman he’d been with and it made his control slip. He thrust up a few last times before letting go and coming into the condom while still buried deep inside her.

John wrapped his arms around Elizabeth’s waist and ran his hands up her back pulling her slowly down to his chest; she relaxed on him and he could feel her breathing calming against his chest in small puffs of air.

He rolled them onto their sides and kissed Elizabeth’s forehead as he pulled her against him.

‘Most beautiful woman in the universe,’ he whispered and closed his eyes resting his cheek against her hair.


	9. Chapter 9

He felt wonderful against her, his shoulder under her head, his neck beneath her lips, arms around her waist holding her close, just wonderful. They were only granted twenty minutes to say goodbye to loved ones before they left and Elizabeth wished that it was more time.

She’d spent the night with him at his place, the last two actually and still she didn’t want to say it at all.

‘I love you,’ he whispered as she tangled her fingers through the hair at the back of his neck, her nails grazed across his scalp as she curled them over.

‘I don’t want you to go,’ she replied and shifted enough to kiss the soft skin between his neck and shoulder.

‘It’s only a few weeks Elizabeth; I’ll be back before you know it.’

‘I doubt it,’ she told him and lifted her head to look him in the eyes, ‘but thank you.’

As if on cue, the general to Elizabeth’s right bellowed for them to board the trucks, and they parted slowly. She watched as he took a few steps backwards from her, his eyes locked with hers. He mouthed his promise to her “nothing can part us” and turned to board the nearest vehicle.

She followed it with her eyes, watching him wave to her as the truck left the yard and headed out onto the main road. He was gone, three weeks at the very least and then he would be back, but three weeks alone was just too long.

After a few minutes more, Elizabeth finally forced her feet into action and walked slowly towards the parking lot and her car, her eyes fixed on the ground until she heard something familiar - something she not only didn’t want to hear, but couldn’t believe she’d heard in this particular location.

Perhaps she was imagining it, couldn’t let go of the thought that somehow, just somehow, her mother was responsible for him leaving so quickly. Her head snapped around as the sound came again and Elizabeth looked angrily towards her mother; standing on the other side of the lot with General Hews, the same general who had just this moment sent Major John Sheppard to Afghanistan.

She turned completely and began slowly walking through the dissipating crowd towards the source of all her problems.

‘You unbelievably selfish woman,’ Elizabeth seethed as she neared her mother. ‘I knew you had something to do with this.’

‘So Monica was right, you were still with him. I believe I’ve just made my point, darling,’ she replied, ‘you won’t be seeing him again.’

Elizabeth couldn’t find an answer that was anything more than extending her hand and hitting her own parent.

‘General Hews here was kind enough to not only put John on the Afghanistan mission to stop him hassling you, but also to arrange an instant transfer out of the country as soon as he returns.’

‘Hassling me?’

‘Your mother tells me, you’ve had nothing but trouble from Sheppard for almost six months,’ the General stated. 

She was confused, moments ago she’d been standing meters from the man with her own arms around John, how could he be under any delusion that she was being troubled by him.

Before Elizabeth could speak up however, an airman approached and the General excused himself.

‘You broke my heart, Elizabeth,’ she said, ‘delusions that he was the man you wanted to be with, you’ve been ill, I could see it,’ Margret said slowly and calmly, ‘but he’s gone now, perhaps we can get back to the real issue.’

‘My only issue is you,’ Elizabeth spat and turned back towards her car.

‘Elizabeth,’ she heard the pleasure in her mother’s voice at having won this round and turned back. ‘I’ve re-opened your trust fund,’ the smile on her face almost made Elizabeth feel sick, ‘and I’ve arranged a party, tomorrow evening at seven. Don’t be late.’

‘I won’t be there,’ Elizabeth sounded calmer than she felt. She watched her mother’s pleased look fall to be replaced with a stern “oh yes you will” look before she smiled. ‘I won’t be going to any of your “parties” again.’

‘So long as you are a Weir, you will do as I tell you to do young lady.’

‘If by some miracle, I show up for your party tomorrow, mother,’ she said the word “mother” as if it were a grotesque item, ‘then you can guarantee that I will make sure every man in the room knows not only what you did to me,’ she grinned with satisfaction, ‘but that I hate every single one of them.’

She watched her mother’s shocked expression as the woman battled to gain composure before she continued.

‘I’ll make sure, that tomorrow’s party will be the last one you ever throw. At the very least, I’ll be making sure none of them show for another “Get Elizabeth Married” party.’

She turned and walked away ignoring her mother’s shouts from behind, even when the woman moved to follow her back to her car Elizabeth concentrated on getting away from her before she did something she’d really regret.

‘If you just tell me you didn’t sleep with him, this can all be over.’

Elizabeth paused in the middle of the lot, three women ahead in her view watching the argument; one of the women raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth and gave a slight nod.

‘I did sleep with him,’ Elizabeth said turning to face her, ‘I enjoyed his hands on my skin, his tongue on me as he tasted me, the feel of him, hard and fast inside me,’ She narrowed her eyes on her mother as she briefly battled with saying what she knew would annoy her mother most. ‘We didn’t even use protection.’

She turned hastily back to her car and caught the smirks of the nearby women as her mother stood frozen to the spot, shocked and disgusted at her daughter’s brashness and disregard.

‘Oh, and if I end up having a child that has no father,’ she added sliding her hand briefly over her stomach and watching her mum’s eyes follow the movement, ‘it’ll be your fault.’

She flicked her key fob to unlock her car and climbed inside; the sudden hand blocking her from shutting the door almost made her jump and she looked up at her mother curiously.

‘You are a Weir. You will be at that party tomorrow at seven and if you dare destroy it…’

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she waited, but silence ensued, for the first time ever, her mother needed a retort that would stop her from doing what she wanted.

‘You’d better not carry that man’s child Elizabeth,’ she said, ‘I will never forgive you if you do,’ she turned and walked away.

‘Mom,’ Elizabeth shouted standing up and catching the shaking heads of the women still watching the exchange. ‘If this is what it means to respect my father, being miserable for your benefit,’ she paused, glancing towards the small crowd, ‘then I’ll be waiting for him to find a way to contact me, so I can tell him I’ve changed my name to Sheppard.’

A small cheer erupted from the group of women, for just a moment Elizabeth kept her eyes fixed on the horrified look that was now on her mother’s face, then climbed into the car and pulled out of the lot.


End file.
